Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-07-16

away, he no longer heSitated, but pressed his |
lips against hers and kissed her again and |
again. II was perhaps as wild and pathetic
love scene as ever the old moon above has |
looked upon. There they WERE those two, |
experiencing the fullest and acutest joy that |
life has to offer in the shadow of death. Nay, |
death was present with them: for there, be |
meath their feet, half hidden by the water, |
was the stifening corpse of the Zulu
To and fro swung the cart in the rush of
the swollen river, up and down beside them
the carcasses of the horses rose and fell with
the swell Of the water, on whose surface the
broken moonbeams played and quivered
Overhead was the blue, star sown depth
through which they were waiting presently
to pass. and TO the right and left the long
broken outlines of the banks stretched away
till at last they appeared to grow together in
the gloom.
But they needed none of these things; they
remembered nothing except that they had
found each others hearts, and were happy
with wild JOY it is not often given us TO feel.
The past was forgotten, the future was at
hand. and between the one and the other was
spanned bridge of passion made perfect and
sanctified by the approaching end. Bessie
was forgotten, all things were forgotten in
that consuming fire.
Let those who would blame them pause
a willie Why mott They had kept the faith.
They had denied themselves and run straightly
down the path Of duty But the compacts of
life end with life. No man may bargain for
the beyond Even the marriage service
shrinhs from it, And now that hope had
gone AMI life was at its EXTREMIST ebb, why
should they not take their happiness before
they passed to the land where perchance all
things will be forgottens So it seemed to
them; if indeed they were any longer capable
of reason
He looked into her eyes and she laid her
head upon his heart in that mute abandon
ment of worship which is sometimes to be
met with in this world. and is redeemed from
vulgar passion by an indefnable quality of
its own He looked into her eyes and was
glad TO have lived, ay, even 10 have reached
this hour of death And she, lost in the
depths of her own nature, sobbed out her
passion laden heart upon his breast, and
called him her own. her own, her very own!
And SO the long hours passed till at last a
new born freshness in the air told them that
they were not far from dawn. The death
they were waiting for had not yet come. 1t
must now be very near at hand,
John, she whispered in his ear, do you
think that they will shoot us!7
Yes he said, hoarsely; they must for
their own safety"
Il wish it were over" she said
Suddenly she started back from his arms
with little cry, causing the cart to rock VIC
lently.
Il forgot, she said-"you can swim, though
| cannot. Why cannot YOU swim to the
bank and get off under cover of the darkness
1t is not more than fifty yards, and the cur
rent is not so very swift
The idea of escaping without jess had never
occurred to him. and now that she suggested
it, it struck him as so absurd that he actually
broke into ghost of laugh
Don't talk nonsense, jess" he said
Yes, yes. will Col You must go' 1t
does not matter about me now l know you
love me and | can die happy. viii wait for
you. Oh. John, wherever am, if have any
life and any remembrance. | viii wait for
you. Never forget that all your life. How
ever far | may seem away, if live at all,
shall be waiting for you And now go; you
shall go, say! No, viii not be disobeyed
Ii you will not go l will throw myself into
the water. Oh, the cart is turning over'n
Hold Oh for Gods sake" shouted John.
THE traces have broken"
He was right; the tough leather was at
length worn through by the constant rub
bIng against the rock and the strain and
swaying of the cart on the one side and the
dead horses on the other Round il spun,
broadside on the current, and Immediately
began to heave over till at last the angle was
so sharp that the dead body of poor Mouti
sid out with a splash and vanished into the
darkness. This relieved the cant and il
rlghted for moment, but now no longer held
up by the bodies of the horses. or by the sus-
tanning power of the wind, it began to fill
and sink, and at the same time TO revolve
round and round. John realized that it was
all up, and that to stop in the cart would
only mean certain death, because they would
be held under water by the canvas tent So
with a devout aspiration for assistance he
seized jess round the waist with one arm and
sprang off into the water As be did so the
cart filled and sank
Lie still for Heavens sake!7 he shouted, as
they rose to the surface.
In the dim light of the dawn which was
now creeping over the earth, he could make
out the line of the left bank of the Vaal, the
same from which they had started into the
river on the previous night. 1t appeared to
be about forty yards away, but the current
| was running quite six knots, and he realized
| that, burdened as he was it would be quite
| impracticable for him TO try and reach it
| The only thing TO do was to keep afioat
Luckily the water was warm and he was
strong swimmer. In minute or so he made
| out that about fifty PAGES ahead some rocks
| jutted out twenty yards into the bed Of the
| stream, Then, catching jess by the hair
| with his left hand, he made his effort and a
| desperate one it was The broken water
| boiled furiously round the rocks Presently
he was in it, and better still. his feet touched
| the ground Next second he was swept off
| them and rolled over and over at the bottom
| of the river, getting sadly knocked about
| against the powders Somehow be struggled
TO his legs, still retaining his mold of jess
| Twice he fell. and twice he struggled up
| again. One more etfOrt-so. The water was
| only up to his Thighs now. and he was obliged
| TO half carry his companion As he lifted
| her he felt deadly sickness come over him.
| but still he struggled on like man, till ut
| last they both fell of heap upon big fiat
rock. and for a while he remembered no
| more
| When he came 10 himself again it was to
| find jess who had recovered sooner than be
had standing over him and chatting his hands
Indeed, as the sun was up, he guessed that be
| must have lost his senses for some time He
rose with some difficulty and shook himself
| Except for some bruises he was sound enough.
Are you hurt" he asked of Jess, who,
| pale and faint and bruised, her hat gone her
dress torn by bullets and the rocks, and, drip
ping water at every step, looked an exceed
ingly forlorn object
"No," she said, feebly; mot very much"
He sat down on the rock in the sun, for
they were both shivering with cold. What
| is to be dones" he asked
"Die," she said, fiercely; Il meant to die
why did you not let me die! Ours is a posi-
| ton that only death can set straight"
| Don't be alarmed, y he said, "your desire
will soon be gratifed; those numbering vii
lains viii hunt US up presently
| The bed and banks of the river were